


Of lavender and home

by Mallior



Series: Tony Stark's collection of stray superheroes - Limited Edition [3]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Possibly OOC, Post-Movie, Unbeta'ed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-28
Updated: 2015-01-28
Packaged: 2018-03-09 10:22:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3246110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mallior/pseuds/Mallior
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Contrary to popular belief, he didn't <i>hate</i> Natasha, but the only place he trusted her was the field. He trusted her to finish a job perfectly or with the best results, depending on the circumstances."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of lavender and home

**Author's Note:**

> The fic is unbeta'ed and English isn't my first language. Also, female characters aren't my strongest point...
> 
> Recommended music: Epic North - This Is The Future // Masashi Hamauzu - FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 ~Mirai~

Tony deliberately made himself scarce since Natasha moved in. To be honest, he always had projects demanded by Fury running in the lab, or showed up at a board meeting unannounced (you know, just to keep the stuffy suits on their toes...). So, it wasn't that deliberate.  
  
Sometimes Bruce or Steve tried to pry him away from the blowtorch, or pestered JARVIS to send Tony upstairs at dinnertime. But Tony had a tendency to sabotage these efforts and usually ate long after dinner, or in the small hours of the morning when even scary assassins slept. It was a perfectly working system, apart from a few incident, when Tony was too tired to resist Steve's puppy eyes or Bruce guilt trip. Those dinners were a little tense and hastily consumed on Tony's side, then he escaped back into the lab.  
  
Contrary to popular belief, he didn't _hate_ Natasha, but the only place he trusted her was the field. He trusted her to finish a job perfectly or with the best results, depending on the circumstances. He also trusted her with Barton, so as long as Clint was on the premises, it was perfect.  
  
There were incidents, when he run into Natasha accidentally and was absolutely civil with her. It usually happened when he staggered to sleep at seven in the morning and did just have the energy to nod at her and vanish into his bedroom and fall into unconsciousness for a few hours. And there were the team dinners, with Tony's carefully monitored comments and minimal communication with Natasha.  
  
But, to be honest, he only felt safe in the lab. It was perfectly defensible with reinforced walls, one door and JARVIS monitoring everything. It felt home...  


***  
  
Tony was cranky, had a headache (not even alcohol-induced…) and tried to outmaneuver a horde of flying robots. Really, these crazy scientist types were boring, but they made up by making a lot of trouble. Currently he was chased by thirty-four armed tin can (no joke, they were made from aluminum, carbon fiber and weapons), Steve shouting orders in his ear, Clint running commentary and JARVIS trying to keep him in the air, and being mindful of the property damage.  
  
It would have been easier, if not for the constant noise and the radiating headache, but it started really mild and Tony hoped it’ll disappear. He needed sleep, but last night he and Clint finally solved an old problem with the archer’s quiver, and of course it kept Tony awake, trying to finish it, in case of emergency.  
  
And the emergency arrived just after seven in the morning, in the form of a fired robotic engineer, who was hell-bent destroying his ex-workplace in the name of AIM (or something like that...), in New York. The man’s robots weren’t tough or too sophisticated, but they were packed with ammo, mostly with machine gun bullets and equipped with modified AK-47s.  
  
The armor didn’t even dent in the hail of gunfire, but the civilians were underfoot, as always, and Tony and Bruce were the only ones, who could keep the tin cans away from them. Steve and Natasha tried to coordinate evacuation and rescue, while Clint kept an eye on the robots and tried to cover their collective asses.  
  
It was almost an hour later, when the last of the robots were destroyed and the strike team of S.H.I.E.L.D. finally caught the man, responsible for this whole cluster fuck. Tony’s headache dialed up a few notch and radiated down his neck and upper back. The bright blue of the displays inside the helmet made his eyes water, and he asked JARVIS to get the volume of the comms down, because they made everything worse.  
  
Finding Steve on the ground wasn’t hard, and telling a few bullshit lines about unfinished, still running ammo experiment, gave Tony the opportunity to escape back to the Tower. Debrief can wait, but getting out of the armor can’t…  
  
Arriving on the landing pad made Tony groan with pain, the movement sending bolts through his skull. JARVIS tried to keep the jostling to the minimum while removing the armor, but it didn’t made any difference. In the elevator, Tony reclined against the cool metal wall, keeping his temple against it, sighing when it soothed little the tension in his head.  
  
The elevator door opened without a sound and Tony staggered into the semi-darkness of his lab, making his way to the battered couch in the far left corner. After gingerly lowering himself down onto it, he laid down, dragging the old, threadbare blanket over his shoulders and closing his eyes. Maybe a few minutes of silence and darkness will help…  
  
***  
  
The next time Tony woke up it was still dark, but he wasn’t on the couch in the lab, but in his own bed. For a few heartbeat he didn’t know what woke him up, until he smelled something herbal.  
“JARVIS? What happened? Time?” he croaked, throat dry, voice sleep rough.  
“It's 2 PM. You had a migraine attack, Sir. After returning to the Tower, you fell asleep in the lab, but Captain Rogers brought you up, hoping it would be better than the couch. Also, Doctor Banner examined you and left two Ibuprofen and a glass of water for you on the bedside table.” Tony gratefully picked up the water and the pills, swallowing them down quickly.  
“Okay, that felt good, but why I smell this… I don’t know what’s this. JARV?”  
“That should be lavender, Sir. Miss Romanov massaged two drops lavender oil into your temple, and…”  
“What? Why?” Tony asked baffled.  
“She came up after Doctor Banner diagnosed you with migraine. She offered the lavender oil, said it would help. I inspected the bottle, and it contained only the herbal oil, so I let her in. Miss Romanov applied the oil and after a few minutes, your blood pressure started to stabilize and your pain level lowered.” JARVIS explained.  
“Huh…”  
“You slept four hours uninterrupted, currently your blood pressure within your average and my sensors indicate that the pain you feel is very minimal, compared to the peak of the attack.”  
“And you’re right.” Tony murmured, moving his head slowly to side to side. “Though, I feel a little hangover. Is that normal?” he asked, rolling his shoulders.  
“According to medical studies, it’s normal, Sir.”  
“Oh, okay. Now I’m going to shower and eat something. JARVIS, please be a darling and order a simple cheese pizza. And if people are awake, order for them too.” Tony said and got out of the bed, shuffling into the bathroom.  
  
After a twenty minutes long hot shower, he gone down to the communal level, JARVIS announcing the pizzas are arrived. Tony thought he’ll find Bruce here or maybe Steve, but Natasha was the only one in the kitchen. He stopped for a heartbeat, but the hunger won and he sat down at the kitchen island.  
  
Natasha glanced up at him from her book, cup of tea and a box of pizza in front of her, then continued to read.  
“Thank you.” Tony said after a few moments, breaking the silence.  
“If it helped, you’re welcome. Thanks for the pizza.” Natasha nodded, and flipped a page.  
  
Tony opened his pizza box, and started to eat. When he finished the half of it, closed the box and got up for a drink. He got a can of soda from the fridge and sat back.  
“Why lavender?” Tony asked.  
For a moment Natasha looked puzzled, then answered.  
“You can use lavender for almost everything. Aches, infections and burns. It can reduce anxiety and stress. It’s pure, you don’t need chemicals, those can be manipulated. With the oil, there are no side effects, unless you’re allergic. It’s natural and safe. JARVIS checked before I used on you and I use the same vial.”  
“It really helped, the pain is almost gone. Thanks again.” with that Tony left the kitchen, soda can in his hand, head full of plans.  
  
***  
  
“You’re really sure the balcony is right? I mean, the sun…”  
“Sir, we calculated the the number of hours of sunshine and you asked three different horticulturists. I believe we tried everything. The flower bins are big enough, the ground in them from the biggest Bulgarian lavender horticulture, the plants are from Kashmir. As Miss Potts would say, you did everything you could.” JARVIS’ voice was as long-suffering as the AI could be.  
“Okay, okay. I’ll shut up.” Tony grumbled behind the faceplate of the armor.  
“Miss Romanov returned to the Tower.” the AI interrupted him.  
“Let's go.” and with that, Tony gathered the cables from the balcony floor and flew back to the lab.  
  
Maybe Tony didn’t really trust Natasha off the field, but she helped him when it wasn’t necessary. Offered something that was only hers. And if the lavender made her feel safe, then Tony made sure she always felt safe in the Tower.  
  
-END-


End file.
